Hanging Valleys
A hanging valley is a tributary valley with the floor at a higher relief than the main channel into which it flows. They are most commonly associated with U-shaped valleys when a tributary glacier flows into a glacier of larger volume. The main glacier erodes a deep U-shaped valley with nearly vertical sides while the tributary glacier, with a smaller volume of ice, makes a shallower U-shaped valley. Since the surfaces of the glaciers were originally at the same elevation, the shallower valley appears to be ‘hanging’ above the main valley. Often, waterfalls form at or near the outlet of the upper valley. Hanging valleys are also the product of varying rates of erosion of the main valley and the tributary valleys. The varying rates of erosion are associated with the valleys rock composition of the adjacent rocks in the different valley locations. The tributary valleys are eroded and deepened by glaciers at a slower rate than that of the main valley floor. Thus the difference in the two valleys depth increases over time. The tributary valleys that were composed of more resistant rock then hangs over the main valley.
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Famous quotes containing the words hanging and/or valleys:
“The old forget the grief,
Hack of the cough, the hanging albatross,
Cast back the bone of youth....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“... often in the heat of noonday, leaning on a hoe, looking across valleys at the mountains, so blue, so close, my only conscious thought was, “How can I ever get away from here? How can I get to where they have books, where I can be educated?” I worked hard, always waiting for something to happen to change things. There came a time when I knew I must make them happen; that no one would do anything about it for me. And I did.”
—Belinda Jelliffe (1892–1979)